Australia, UK Support Vietnam Economic Integration Agenda

The Australian Aid Program (AusAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on January 20 signed a financing agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) to continue to help Vietnam cover the second phase of the “Maintaining Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Gains through WTO Commitment Implementation” technical assistance program.

 

Under the agreement, AusAID will contribute AUD12 million (est. VND180 billion) and DFID will contribute GBP3.4 million (est. VND105 billion) for Phase II of Beyond WTO. The five year program will also receive technical assistance from the World Bank.

 

In Phase II, the Beyond WTO Program will support the implementation of Vietnam’s commitments under WTO and other international and regional agreements, focusing on strengthening the institutions of the market economy in areas such as competition, state owned enterprise reform and land management; helping the rural sector adjust to the impact of economic integration through research and analysis of new market opportunities to inform policy making; building the capacity of key Vietnamese institutions that are implementing economic reforms; and working at provincial level to support the implementation of key economic reforms.